MOVIE REVIEWS: THE DESCENT

One of the creepiest movies i’ve seen in a long time, The Descent is a great psychological thriller/horror. The darkness and claustrophobia really gets to you, even if you aren’t phobic. Let’s see what our OBS staffer has to say.

Brought to you by OBS staff member Rose

Name: The DescentRated: RRunning Time: 100 minutes

Director: Neil Marshall

Synopsis
When a young woman, Sarah (played by Shauna MacDonald), loses her husband and her daughter in a horrible car crash, she agrees to take an annual adventure-seeking caving expedition with 5 other friends to break out of her sorrow. Juno (Natalie Jackson Mendoza) is the thrill junkie among them, along with her new protégé’ and newbie to the group, Holly and leads the girls into what they think is the Borum Caverns, a Level 2 difficulty, mediocre and a known touristy cavern. Little do the rest know that Ms. I-Take-Too-Many-Risks has led them into uncharted territories.

Review
When The Descent was released it was the scariest movie to come out in a long time. This is probably due to the plausibility of the horror story. It is utterly frightening to the core. The beginning of the film with its two-minute back-story is filled with foreshadowing, if you pay attention. The naming of the movie was genius, as it pertains not only to the women’s descent into the foreboding caves, but a descent into hell of their minds and of their morals and humanity.

Descent’s story takes time to bake, it refuses to be rushed. We are not thrust into a gore fest in the first ten minutes that is why is works so well. The claustrophobia, tension and anxiety lead for much of the way. The back-story of certain characters surfaces again much later whilst their being chased and preyed upon by deadly vicious creatures. This lends a twist and a deep fissure between two of the friends, which is played out in the climax as they fight for their lives. Personally I think all the actresses did a great job, no stereo-typical screamers here.

If you haven’t seen it yet, run to your nearest video store, grab a friend, and turn off all the lights. This is a must see A+ horror film.